Dark Days
by Bozhestvennym
Summary: The Vex are stirring on Venus, numerous portals lighting up across the surface. Vex are spilling onto the surface, but... what are they up to?
1. Ch01 - Prologue

Ch01

Shots ring out. Fallen shriek, and a skiff can be heard flying overhead. More Guardian shots, followed by retaliation from the Fallen. A grenade flies, and bodies of Fallen Dregs and Vandals hit the dirt.

"Well, now wasn't that fun?" commented Quinn.

"No. It wasn't," replied her Ghost, Spark. "There's another two Skiffs inbound. Prep for combat."

She replies with affirmation, readying. As the first Skiff comes within sight, a rocket launcher is readied, preparing to make Earth just that tad bit safer. As the Skiff comes closer, it comes in contact with the first rocket, detonating harshly against the surface. It sways to the side, as the Fallen bail out, looking for the source.

"We... might want to move back." Suggested Spark.

Defiantly, she stands, "I will not! It's just a small band! I have weapons, you know."

The first Dreg leaps across a piece of debris, followed immediately by a High Servitor. Two different rocket detonations impact the Servitor, but to no avail. As this occurs, the second Skiff, undamaged, flies past and drops numerous Fallen forces behind her in the engagement.

"How about now?" remarks Spark.

Spark is immediately equipped, pulling out her Sparrow, as they both speed off from the impending Fallen threat. The second Skiff, surprisingly, has a Fallen Pike, and sends it off to follow them. As Quinn notices the Pike, she dodges around a rusted hut, and tries to outmatch the Pike in speed. The Sparrow speeds off a cliff, leaving the Pike behind.

"Shit." They both state in unison, Quinn with defeat and Spark with exclamation.


	2. Ch02 - Skirmish

Ch02

As Quinn wakes up, she sees Spark floating around scanning the rocks.

"What is it?" she inquires.

"I… I don't know. Not yet, at least. But there seems to be some Vex residue here…" Spark responds.

"The Vex!? Here!?" she exclaims.

"I don't know! I said it seems that way!" he replies.

This does not sit well, nor for anyone this news would get to. The Vex, locked up on their terraformed worlds, in Russia? Unthinkable!

After a long pause, she states, "Make contact with the tower."

"About that…," Spark responds, "that may be a problem. Wherever we are, I can't get a signal. I also can't get a transmat. You're going to have to find us a way out of here."

Acknowledging this, Quinn begins to look around, hoping to find a natural source of light.

"Be my flashlight, will ya?" she asks openly.

As Spark ignites, she notices hostile signatures on her motion tracker. Readying a rifle, she scans the immediate area for any sign of anything. Seeing nothing, she advances, leaving her burnt Sparrow behind. Dark walls and low lighting filled the cave-in, a tense and suffocating atmosphere. Rounding a bend in the cave, she came across something unusual – a Fallen sniper rifle, lying in the rocks. No body, just the rifle.

Indicating to her Ghost, he began to scan it. Noticing nothing truly peculiar about it, he advised them to move on, but she wanted to keep it to examine and study it. Strapping the rifle across her back, and tossing the empty rocket to the ground, they continued further down through the cave systems.

"Check for any Hive activity down here. They would certainly thrive in such an environment." Quinn advised.

"Nothing for miles." Spark replied.

Hearing this, they continued on. She kept silent for hours, sighting with her pulse rifle around every bend and corner. And yet, nothing. Nothing else in the cave systems but her, her Ghost, and the echoing of her footsteps. Finally, after these many hours, they were met with a fork in the system – two different paths, one seeming to go deeper underground than the other.

"Scan."

Nothing. Either path seemed as good as the other. Taking the path that had seemed deeper, they discovered a source of light from far down the passage. Seeing this, Quinn broke into a sprint, making a massive effort.

Upon hitting the end of the linear tunnel, she turned right and saw the source of the light – a dim and rusting Hive lamp. She sent her Ghost to scan it, detect for activity, all the while searching the room with her pulse rifle for hostiles.

"Hasn't been active for a long time, and I'm still not picking up any Hive signatures down here." Stated her Ghost.

Looking onwards in dismay, she realized what she hadn't upon first entering this room – it was not a cave, anymore. This was a part of a rusted Human array, buried somewhere.

Upon this realization, she exclaimed, "Find a computer! Maybe we can figure out where we are."

Spark fluttered around the space, searching for a computer.

"Nothing in here, but there's a faint power signature behind that door." He responded.

Looking towards the door, she realized it was bolted shut. Approaching it, she prepared an Incendiary Grenade to try to bust it open. Primed, she threw the grenade. Bouncing off the door itself, it slid to the ground a foot away, and detonated. Shielding her eyes from the explosion, she took her arm away to look and see the results.

"Lovely…" she stated, "It's no use, it's sealed. Can you do anything about it?"

"I can try." Spark responded.

He flew to the door, looking for a switch or a panel. Finding nothing, he scanned the door itself.

"It's not of very heavy material, you should be able to get it down with enough hits."

Hearing this, she unstrapped the Fallen sniper rifle, and prepared to shoot out the bolts. Locking onto the furthermost left, she fired, causing the bolt to go spinning out the other side. Seeing that this had worked, she repeated the process for the numerous other bolts until the sniper was empty. Thinking it was enough, she walked up and attempted to pull the door up.

"Stabilize, stabilize!" she shouted.

The Ghost rushed to her side, holding the door in place. She let go, and slid under, with her Ghost right behind.

She stood up, and was met with the decayed remains of numerous Hive soldiers, surrounding the equipment. Stepping over, they approached the source of power.

"Well, at least there's still a computer that works!" Spark commented, cheerfully.

Frustrated, still, she responded, "About as likely as that elevator working on the Colony ship." She gestured to the monitor, indicating to the Ghost to scan.

He followed, and approached the monitor.

"23 miles underground, amidst what was once a site for humanity to study the Hive. The records indicate that the Hive, not long after formation here, retaliated and killed the scientists."

"Who killed the Hive, then?" she responded.

"I… I don't know."

"Should we be worried?"

Taking a few seconds before answering, Spark said, "This is from a couple centuries ago, I think. We should be fine. I hope."

After taking a long look around the room, Quinn inquired, "Well, how do we get out of here, then?"

Spark flew away from the panel, and approached a different locked door. "This way." He proceeded to unlock said door, and they began through the complex.

Walking through the halls, they observed the countless Human skeletons, along with slightly less decayed bodies of Thralls and Acolytes. They passed a window, marked " _TESTING_ ". Inside, a chained-up Knight stood in the middle of the room, long dead.

"So, what were they doing here?" she asked.

"I'm not certain, but from what I could gather from the logs, they were simply trying to study them. This, however, suggests otherwise." He replied.

Disgusted, she decided it best to just move forward. At the end of the corridor, stood yet another locked door. However, through this one, the faint sounds of battle could be heard.

"What's going on? Hurry, open the door!" she exclaimed.

Spark flew to open the door, but instead it flung open and slammed Quinn to the ground. She got back up, and was met face to face with a Hive Knight.

"Shit!" she screamed, barely dodging the swipes of its blade. She ran behind it, stabbing it in the back with her knife.

As it cried in agony, she stabbed again, ending its life. She turned immediately to the now open door, witnessing a battle between the Fallen and the Hive.

"Well, it seems we've made it out!" Spark shouted over the sounds of battle.

She ran out, pulse rifle out, gunning down the nearest Acolyte and providing follow-up shots on a Knight. As she reloaded, she watched a Skiff quickly approach the battle. She noticed that the Fallen weren't shooting her, but only at the Hive forces. She thought it best to keep it that way, and ran towards the Knight, while throwing a Knife into its skull.

Two Vandal teams flowed out of the Skiff, followed by a Reaver Captain. The Captain approached Spark, who had hung back towards the door.

Spark floated back, still worried. The Captain noticed, and dropped his weapon, and lifted his hands to the air in peace. All the while, Quinn and the other Fallen were bombarding the Hive forces within this valley. She fired into Hive lines until her pulse rifle had run out of ammunition. She threw it to the ground, and ran head on into the Hive's lines. Throwing Incendiaries and knives, she fought hard.

Spark witnessed this, and while still not comfortable with the Captain, went into Inventory and popped her a Primary Synth. She saw her ammo count, and reloaded her pulse rifle behind cover. She nodded to Spark, then returned to the fight.

The canyon area itself ended in a cliffside, where the Fallen assaulted from. Opposite the cliff, the canyon went on for a mile or two, then turned beyond sight. All that remained in the Hive's frontlines were Acolytes, but a mass of Thralls sprinted from around the bend.

She continued firing, melting into the lines of Dregs and Vandals leading the assault. Acolytes went down, Thralls ran forward right into the blades of multiple Melee Vandals. As it seemed that the Hive forces would be relentless, she fell back to her Ghost and the Captain.

Spark was surprised to hear the Captain speak in English for the Guardian and her Ghost.

"We do not wish to invoke warfare with you. Our fight is with the Vex." Stated the Captain.

"The Vex?" responded Spark, "Then, why are you here in Eurasia?"

"We've retreated from Venus. They've pushed our forces to a breaking point, and we needed to regroup."

"Well," Quinn cut in, "We'd be happy to assist in the fight against them. We've heard reports from Venus. Vex portals opening up all across the surface. We've been meaning to investigate it, ourselves."

The Captain nodded with affirmation, turning back to the battle at hand.

"Do you have a name?" asked Quinn.

"Rekis." He responded.

"I'm Quinn, and this is Spark." She stated, "Now, I have a question for you."

Rekis looked back, awaiting the question.

"Do you happen to have any walkers?"

He nodded, and then signaled an inbound Skiff to drop a walker. As it hit the ground, she noticed the mark on it to be unfamiliar, and she realized that it was because she did not know what Fallen House it, or any of the troops here, belonged to.

It turned its cannon towards the rocks at the top of the valley's sides, and fired. A landslide ruptured, and the passage for the Hive had been blocked off. The remaining Acolytes and Thralls looked back on it. Angered, they returned their gaze to Fallen and rushed them. Quinn broke off from the Captain and equipped the sniper, landing multiple consecutive headshots. Acolytes hit the ground, and the Thrall turned to rush at Quinn.

She popped off a few pulse rifle bursts before Rekis stepped in and cut them down with his blades. One by one, Thrall bodies fell to the ground in defeat and in death. With this skirmish won, the Fallen rejoiced.

She then returned to Rekis to ask the question that had been nagging at her since the walker.

"What House are you a part of?" she inquired.

"We…," Rekis stated, "are a part of the Fallen House of Blood."


	3. Ch03 - Contact

Ch03

"I'm still intrigued, Captain, as to why you have spared us?" Quinn asked.

Quinn and Spark had been welcome aboard a Skiff, and taken to the House of Blood's Ketch. Numerous troops on patrol, and it had been heavily stocked.

"Unlike the other Fallen, Guardian, we have more honor. Our quarrel is with the Vex. They have been a threat to us, and it is in our best interest to eliminate them," Rekis replied, "and not get involved in other affairs."

The Ketch was landed in a large canyon somewhere in Earth's European Deadzone. Quinn and Spark had also still yet to make contact with the Tower. They sat within the ship's hangar/entrance. Quinn, of course, bringing up as much conversation as she could think of, while Spark sat beside her, making some sort of calculations.

"Does the House have a Kell?" she asked.

"Our Kell was lost long ago, however, our Prime Servitor resides on Venus. It keeps us going." Rekis responded.

She remained quiet for a while, then began with, "Spark, send a message to the Tower. Let them know that we're fine." Spark acknowledged, and flew out of the bay, wandering off to get signal.

…

"Spark, good to hear from you!" exclaimed Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard in the tower. "How goes it? Ikora's been worried."

"We got a bit… sidetracked." Responded Spark.

"With…?" said Cayde.

"After an encounter with the House of Kings that went south, we crashed into a Hive research facility. We had to –"

"Wait, the Hive have research stations?" interrupted Cayde.

"Well, no," replied Spark, "It was an old Ishtar site. They were researching the Hive. Anyways, we escaped and ran into an unheard of Fallen House that don't seem to be a threat to the City."

"Fallen? Unknown House? I thought we had all of 'em." Responded Cayde.

"This was the House of Blood. According to one of their Captains, Rekis, their goal is to eliminate the Vex presence on Venus. They do not wish to be our enemy."

"Well, that's good to hear, then." Said Cayde.

"We're in their Ketch, now, set down in a canyon somewhere in the European Dead Zone. We plan to join them on their assault of Venus."

"Well then, good luck." Cayde said, "Let us know how it goes!"

"Understood," Spark replied.

…

Spark returned to the hangar bay, as Rekis and Quinn were finishing a conversation.

"I've made contact with Cayde," stated Spark, "Apparently, Ikora has been worried about us. Other than that, not much was said. We weren't really gone too long."

"Well," began Quinn, "We're about to head out to Venus."

"Understood" answered Spark.

Rekis moved off, and began barking orders at the soldiers as he moved up the ramp to go deeper inside the Ketch. Quinn stayed seated, reloading her weapons and checking over them.

"You seem to have taken a liking to that sniper" commented Spark.

She thought for a moment, then responded with, "Yes, yes I have. Quite a lovely weapon."

"However," Spark responded, "I would advise you return to either the Tower or the Vestian Outpost sometime soon, as I found a few engrams during the skirmish in the valley."

She nodded in acknowledgement, and went about continuing to mind her weapons. She had a cloth in her inventory, and asked Spark to retrieve it for her. She draped it over the sniper, and then realized what she had truly found – it was not a simple Fallen sniper, but an exotic weapon: the Queenbreaker's Bow. She was amazed that she had found something so special.

She turned and watched as the bay doors closed, noticing assorted Fallen equipment found scattered throughout the bay. Crates stocked with wire rifles and shock pistols, along with Pikes covered in cloth. _The Fallen really are preparing for a full-on war with the Vex_ , she thought.

"I wonder how this may conflict with the House of Winter." Spark said, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she confusedly responded.

"The House of Winter," Spark continued, "They've set camp on Venus. I know we killed their Kell, and a lot of them moved in with the Wolves, but many still remain on the surface. I wonder if they are going to be an issue."

She considered it, and understood his concern. _If the House of Winter remains_ , she thought, _then what would stop them from shooting us? Conflict among Fallen_ –

Shattering her thoughts, yet again, Spark kept on by saying, "Conflict among Fallen Houses isn't uncommon. Don't you remember what happened when the Wolves tried to convince the Devils and Kings? The Devils ran and laid traps, and the Kings… well, I don't think the Wolves ever stood a chance, there."

"I understand your concern," she began, "but Blood seems to have already been on Venus for a while, so they must have something figured out." Or, at least she hoped. While not as fierce as the Wolves themselves, Winter had many tricks up their sleeve, and with their Ketch still on the surface long after slaying their Kell, they could easily be lying in wait for opposition.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She finished.

Spark responded, "If you say so."

It was at that moment that Rekis exited the ship's innerworkings and approached the two, once again, in the bay. He, however, was also followed by something much larger – it seemed that the House of Blood, while lacking a Kell, did have an Archon Priest.

Rekis introduced him, "Our Archon Priest, Kelsor." The Archon stood tall, having to crouch under the doorway he came from. Yet more followed, as the Archon's personal Vandal guard came with him. He nodded in greeting to Quinn, who returned the greeting with a salute.

Kelsor wore a large cloak, similar to that of the rogue, Taniks the Scarred, however, was all a solid blood-red tone. Across his back, rested a Fallen Scorch Cannon and a massive blade, capable of smashing through an entire enemy line.

Kelsor and Rekis had a small conversation, of which the contents were unknown due to being in their native Eliksni tongue. After, Rekis turned to Quinn, "Our Archon has yet to take to learning your tongue."

Quinn nodded in response, acknowledging the interspecies gap.

"I'm sure we can figure something out!" chimed Spark.

She thought for a moment, then suggested, "Hand signals?"

Rekis turned to Kelsor, and translated the suggestion to the Archon Priest. The Archon remained silent and still for a few moments, then nodded and gave a confirmation to Rekis. After everyone was in agreement, Quinn went about making them all clear. All the while, the Ketch was speedily approaching Venus.

They all made final preparations, and then heard the noticeable _thump_ of the ship exiting hyper-space. Rekis ran off to head to the deck, while Kelsor remained in the bay with the ambitious Guardian and her Ghost.

Spark chimed in, again, breaking the silence, "I'm going to ping the tower, let them know that we're here."

She nodded, and proceeded to turn towards the still-closed bay door, waiting for it to open. She anticipated getting some action with the Vex.

Rekis returned, and as he walked down from the door, the bay door began to open.

"We've reached our destination." He firmly stated.

The door opened onto a field of grass, with Venus' typical rainfall along with it. A single Vex portal could be seen a few yards from the ship. As Fallen started to pour out of the ship, the portal lit up – and with that, countless Vex began spilling through.

Quinn realized that she had just entered the beginning of a very long war.


	4. Ch04 - Frontal Assault

Ch04

The plateau lacked cover, and the Fallen collided with the Vex forces almost immediately. Two Skiffs flew into the chaos, simultaneously dropping Blood Walkers into the fray. The Walker that had landed closest to the conflict turned its large turret towards the nearest Vex gate and fired. The gate exploded, killing a few Goblins who had been in the middle of exiting it.

The Blood Walkers advanced, slowly, into battle. This encounter bore similarity to the Hive skirmish in the valley, however, this was much more open. The field went on for miles, eventually turning narrower and with vast foliage coverage.

Goblins and Hobgoblins marched through the natural density, being met with Fallen return fire. Every death was a trade-off, it seemed. A Vandal sniper took aim and shot down a Hobgoblin, only to be thrashed about from the returning fire from another Hobgoblin. All the Fallen had that the Vex didn't were their tanks.

Quinn sat witness to the action, then turned back inside and ran to a Pike.

"What are you doing?" Spark exclaimed.

"Joining the fight." She responded.

She threw off the thick cloth that was draped over the Pike, and discovered that it was not an ordinary Pike, but a Heavy Pike armed with repeaters and grenade launchers. She jumped on, and started ignition.

She flew out of the bay in the Pike, barreling through the field. As she was dashing forward, her Ghost called out to her, "Stop!"

She hit the brake, and came to a stop right as one of the Skiffs, having been shot down from an unknown Vex source, crashed directly ahead. _Well, I guess they've got cover now_ , she thought. She nodded thanks to her Ghost, then turned right and burst around the crash.

She immediately saw what had shot it down – to the far side of the field, a rock wall emerged from the ground, and another plateau rested above it. Atop this now visible ridge, rested a Vex Cyclops. Stationary artillery, as they were, had shot down the Skiff.

The Cyclops launched another volley, with Quinn barely being able to avoid the impact. She noticed a ramp in the terrain, and was certain Spark knew her next move. She hit the boost on the Spike, driving it as fast as it would go, up to the ramp. She jumped it, and had to abandon the Pike mid-air in order to clamber up onto the rock wall.

"Rocket would be nice, right about now," she openly commented.

"Oh," acknowledged Spark, "right!"

Spark proceeded to pull whatever launcher he could find from the inventory, and allowed it to materialize into her hands. As she loaded it, the Cyclops took notice of her, but instead of eliminating her itself, summoned a Vex cloud. The cloud dropped four Goblins with a Minotaur leading them.

"Quinn!" Spark shouted.

Her head shot up, and she saw the approaching Vex squad. The launcher went onto her back, and she grabbed her Bow and prepared to fire on the Vex.

She looked back down to load the sniper, and came back up face to face with a Goblin. Its shrieks shot through the field, and she instantly fired the Bow into its eye.

The Goblin fell back, and deactivated shortly after. She returned her attention to the rest of the Vex that were approaching. With a few shots left in the Bow's magazine, she took aim and took down the furthest Goblin. She repeated the process for the next two, shadestepping to dodge their return fire. She fell back to reload, but the Minotaur used its teleportation to appear right in front of her. It beat her down with the butt of its torch hammer, and she fell to the ground.

Shocked, she shadestepped again to the side, to avoid another swipe. She pulled a swarm grenade, and jumped up and stuck it to its head. The grenade blew open, and the small, explosive trackers all flew out and then returned back and impacted on its surface. It grasped its face momentarily, then shook it off and fired off two rounds of the torch hammer, both missing its target but impacting on the ground next to her.

She grabbed her pulse rifle, and fired into the core in its chest. After a magazine was empty, it screeched and fell to the ground. Satisfied, she stowed away the rifles and reequipped the launcher. The Cyclops had, of course, taken notice of the defeat of its summoned units, but not before taking a rocket to its eye. The impact and blast damage severely affected it, as pieces of it fell apart.

Regaining itself in a matter of seconds, faster than she could reload, it fired another volley. The ground around was scorched, and it seemed that Quinn had been defeated.

…

:/

:Entry

: "Stand by for resurrection"

:/

…

Spark brought Quinn back in a few seconds. The Cyclops, thinking it had won, had returned its focus to the Fallen forces in proximity. Taking advantage of the lack of attention, she reloaded the launcher and prepared to fire another rocket.

The Cyclops heard the priming, and refocused yet again. Momentarily shocked, it took a second to realize what had just happened in the past few moments. This, however, was a significant error made by the Cyclops, as the launcher fired, and the rocket exploded across the Cyclops' surface.

Defeated and severely damaged, the Cyclops began to fall apart in entirety, before lighting up in a bright and violet explosion.

"Well done!" complemented Spark.

She nodded in response, and turned back to the main battle. Blood was sending out Pikes from the ship, now, and they were splattering Vex bodies across the field. The two Blood Walkers had also gotten within range to damage the bulk of the Vex retaliation, both constantly firing off rockets and grenades at the Vex onslaught.

Quinn noticed that Kelsor had not actually exited the Ketch, and remained out of the action. She did, however, spot Rekis up front in the front lines of the assault, cutting down Goblins left and right.

More Vex, however, continued to march onto the field, their virtually infinite numbers surpassing what the Fallen had to offer.

To the other side of the field, another gate lit up. Harpies began flowing out, catching the Blood off guard.

"We need to go close that gate!" exclaimed Quinn.

"Agreed. Sparrow ready." Spark responded.

"Spark," Quinn began to respond, "Do you not remember our last Sparrow run?"

"But the target is clear, this time!"

She sighed, and accepted the argument and mounted the Sparrow. They sped across the field towards the gate, still spewing out Harpies. The most recent fleet of Harpies took note of her, and turned to defend the gate.

"Spark," Quinn stated, "I need an auto."

Spark acknowledged, and retrieved an auto rifle from her inventory, replacing the pulse. She loaded the weapon, and then began tearing through the Harpy crowd. Many returned fire, but were knocked aside by two Pikes that had joined in to knock out the portal. She continued firing on the remaining Harpies, as the Pikes sped by and shot the gate, directly.

The gate experienced a faint explosion and then shut off. The remaining Harpies chirped and turned to fire at the Pikes. As they did this, Quinn threw a tripmine grenade in the middle of them all. They all turned towards it, stupidly, and then went up in flames as the grenade detonated. Half exploded, and the other half just fell down in flames.

Quinn turned to the Pikes and gave a snappy salute in thanks, and the lead Dreg nodded in return.

The Pikes turned back, and returned to the main battle. The Vex were being pushed back, and the Blood had suffered very few losses.

Additional Skiffs flew overhead, bombarding the still incoming Vex troop. With their Cyclops down, the Vex had no real defense against the Skiffs, and soon fell to their firepower. As the Vex forces in the area dwindled, Fallen began rushing into them to take out all of the survivors.

Finally, the last Goblin falls to the ground and this battle has been won by the House of Blood. Quinn notices that, similar to the House of Wolves, Blood seems interested in some of the Vex tech. She and Spark take note of this, as it could potentially result in a backfire or a betrayal.

Kelsor was finally seen exiting the Ketch, and began barking at the other Eliksni. They stopped their cheering, and many ran back into the Ketch. Quinn was extremely perplexed, until she saw them reappear with crates and supplies, presumably to set camp here. She began walking back to the site where they were setting up, but something caught her eye – among the piles of dead Vex bodies, she saw movement.

"Hostile!" she shouted, at the same time reaching for the Bow. She pulled it up to bear within seconds, and took aim almost instantly after.

"Fuck!" she screamed, "Where'd it go!?"

Scanning the area in a desperate attempt, she called to the Blood, "Hey! Movement spotted within the Vex rubble! I lost sight, someone help me find it! We cannot have any Vex reinforcements, not until this is fortified!"

Multiple Vandals took to arms, rushing for the debris, watching for any movement on the way. One of the Vandals approached one Hobgoblin body that was still partially active, only to be gunned down by thin air. Vandals turned to watch as one of their comrades fell to the ground, with no visible source.

Quinn stated calmly, "Scan for energy signatures by the body."

Spark raced past the other Vandals, and approached the fallen Vandal. He scanned the surrounding area, then faced up and swung back, only barely missing a burst.

"Harpy! It's been camouflaged!" yelled Spark.

Quinn shifted slightly to where the shots had come from, and fired with the Bow. A noticeable Vex shriek was heard, and a Harpy fell out of camo and to the ground.

Unnerved, she responded, "There's bound to be more. Stay on guard."

As she said this, the ground shook beneath them, and electrical bursts appeared ahead.

"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" she complained.

In response, she was met with a Vex cloud that dropped countless Harpies, and a very large and very angry Hydra to the ground.

Her only reply, "Fuck."


	5. Ch05 - Speculation

Ch05

 **Author's Note: Chapters are still coming, although rather slowly. Trust me, I still have plenty more to tell. If the story does end up being cut short, it will still receive a solid ending, unlike my previous Destiny story, The Taken Disciple. Next chapter will be a long wait as I'm going to try to make it considerably longer. Anyways, thank you, and enjoy!**

To her surprise, the Blood Walkers were still active. They both fired on the Hydra as soon as it hit the ground, and she fell towards the rocks for cover. Fragments and shards burst across, as the Hydra deflected the first shot with its shield, but taking the second shot heavily when the shield moved out of the way.

She heard an indicator in her HUD – her super was finally ready again!

"Why did that take so long?" she complained.

"Why did what?" Spark began, before she went up in flames as she activated her Golden Gun. "Oh. That."

She jumped up, and with her special helmet of Aclyophage, popped off four consecutive rounds at the Hydra. It went down almost immediately after the third shot, but she had to get off another one for certainty. Harpies flowed onwards, still, advancing on the Guardian. Other than the Blood Walkers, most of the Fallen stayed behind. She questioned this, slightly worried, but thought little of it.

Piercing through the enemy lines with her Auto Rifle, she noticed that the Walkers had ceased firing? She hoped this was in fear of hitting her, but she wasn't certain.

The Harpies continued rushing, and she kept firing back on them. She primed and threw an Incendiary out into a crowd of Harpies, and watched them burned momentarily, before she turned for the remainder. As much as she loved the Bow, she requested a shotgun. Spark pulled what he could find – something else a bit special.

In her hands materialized a Lord of Wolves, also previously Fallen equipment. She ran forward and fired into the horde, and they fell quickly.

"I like this thing!" she shouted over the Vex cries.

"Thought you would." Spark replied.

In just a matter of seconds, the Harpies were all down. Satisfied, she turned back towards the Fallen lines. She frowned, seeing that the Blood advanced after she'd already killed the Vex presence.

Cautious, Spark advised, "Keep your finger on that trigger. I'm not sure I like this situation."

"Neither do I." she answered back. Her trigger finger tensed, as Blood Melee Vandals and Vandal Snipers moved forward. The Fallen, however, ran past them. While relieved, she was still unbelievably curious. They'd come here to fight the Vex, so where were they going?

Countless Fallen, though, stayed back at the landed Ketch. Some continued their task of moving out crates and setting up a camp site. The two Blood Walkers were also an anomaly – one pushed onwards with the fleeting Vandals, albeit slowly. The other Walker turned back and began heading back for the site.

As Vandals continued to pass, she saw Rekis running forward with them. When he came closer, she put out her hand to stop him. Had her helmet been off, he would have seen her quizzical expression. Instead, she turned and pointed to the large amount of Vandals and asked, "Where are they going?"

Clearly exasperated, Rekis responded by saying, "We are heading into Vex ruins to clear it out. The rest of our House remain here to set camp for our return." As she was about to ask another question, he turned and continued running onwards. Skeptical on whether or not she should join them, she settled on returning to the camp. Her initial thought had been to just help out, but a plan to keep tabs on the Fallen became more and more plausible.

She walked back to the camp site, noticing the blood red stains across the once greenish field, along with metallic remains from the Vex forces. Blades of grass cut down, lying across the field. The foliage seemed to have simply fallen apart in this eruption of warfare. It upset her to see such a once beautiful place be torn apart and ruined by conflict between entities that had no purpose even being there. She still had her opinions of the Fallen – traitors, thieves, pirates, scavengers, scum. While her trust for the Blood only seemed to grow, she remained willingly wary about their actions. She was also slightly concerned about any issues that may develop with her acquirement of the two Fallen weapons.

She decided to simply push these thoughts aside, and focus on the task at hand.

* * *

Rekis and his troops began to move more slowly as more of Venus' trees blocked the Walker's path. Rekis seethed at this lack of progress. He had an objective, and he very much intended to complete it. Up ahead, the natural terrain gradually became more mixed with the stones of the Vex. Their structures were simply a hindrance to Rekis, as they were to the rest of his House.

Rekis, as old and hardened as he was, was still concerned about the intervention of the Guardian. While he did not have any particular quarrel with her or the rest of her kind, she posed a threat to progress, and many of his troops felt negatively towards her kind. Humanity had done much to hurt the Fallen, with the fall of most of the significant Houses. Their only allies at this point seemed to be the Kings and Plagues. The Devils, while still residing in parts of the place known by Guardians as Russia, had been pushed to the brink of destruction. Winter had been almost completely absorbed into the House of Wolves, which was subsequently ended by the Guardians when they captured and killed Skolas. They even hunted down their rebuilt Servitor on Mars…

Guardians. They seemed to be the cause of most of this, he thought. The cause of the majority of deaths in this Solar Systems. Fallen Houses? Eradicated by Guardians. Hive? Their leaders slain, minions gone mad without guides. The Vex? Well, they seemed to have been relatively unscathed, resulting in his House's goal. Then there were the Cabal, an empire spanning far and wide, but only having a small grasp in the solar system, holding Mars and its moon Phobos, along with launching massive counterattack on Oryx's dreadnaught.

Rekis wondered if the old House of Dust was still around, somewhere on Mars' surface.

"Contact!" shouted one of his Vandals, interrupting his thoughts, "We're surrounded, sir!" it continued.

Rekis was furious! How had he let himself slip into this situation? Rekis summoned the one Servitor they'd brought as assistance, "Servitor! Transmit back to the Ketch! Tell them to send the Guardian after us!" The Servitor nodded, and moved to cover behind more Vex architecture. It had seemed that, while Rekis had been lost in thought, they had reached their destination. "You!" Rekis shouted, pointing to a group of Vandals, "Cover the Servitor!" They all nodded, and ran to protect their vital link back to the ship.

Rekis turned his attention skywards. Atop the grassy hills stood countless Hobgoblins, preparing to fire on the Fallen scout force. Pulling out a shock grenade, he arced as much as he could and aimed in between two Hobgoblins most center. They turned to look at it, and immediately entered their defense mechanism of an invincibility state.

Rekis swore, and pulled out his blades. He was determined to end those Vex snipers and protect his troops. As this occurred, the troops on the ground were in a firefight with a seemingly infinite amount of Goblins marching out of the structure ahead. Its vine-covered walls gave the impression of abandonment, but this was not the case at all. The Vandals continued firing on their attackers, taking down as many as they could.

The Servitor shrilled a loud sound, indicating to the Baron that his message had been sent. Pleased, he jumped up, swinging on the vines drooping from the hillside. He proceeded to scale the wall, absorbing incoming fire as he went. He eventually launched upwards, immediately slicing two of the snipers in half. The rest turned, and began to charge their weapons. He threw one blade into an approaching Hobgoblin, watched it fall, and then ran forward to retrieve his blade. Piercing bursts of energy shot through the air, emanating from their sniper rifles. Rekis dodged, and then ran forward, cutting them down with swift and precise movement.

As Rekis began to feel victory, he felt an explosion shaking the ground, and he fell back down into the valley, hitting something sharp and instantly falling unconscious.


	6. Ch06 - Guardian

Ch06

 **Author's Note: See, that wasn't THAT long of a wait! However, I have encountered a few issues that may prohibit further production for a while at least. I'm currently posting at school, last day of the year in fact, because the keyboard on my desktop seems to have stopped working. We're gonna troubleshoot, but just know the next chapter may be a while. Hopefully this issue shall be resolved. Thanks for sticking with me!**

"What happened!?" she cried.

"Calm yourself…" responded the Dreg at the comm system, "Our noble Captain can handle himself."

Infuriated, she replied, "With all due respect, if that were the case, I don't believe my presence would have been requested!" Her voice had raised into an emotionally filled shout.

Spark jumped in, stepping between the two, "Quinn! It's alright! The faster we get there, the more help we can provide, so let's get going." She nodded in response, calming down slightly. The Ghost quickly turned to the Dreg and apologized for the incident, and then sped after her as she ran out.

* * *

Spark flew out and summoned their Sparrow. She mounted it as it materialized, and sped off before he could even transfer.

Quinn was set on reaching Rekis. Just an hour prior, she'd been so very wary of the Fallen House, but now wanted nothing more than to make sure they were alright. She was still worried about the location of Kelsor. She hadn't even seen him when speeding out of the open ship bay, nor had seen him amongst the other remaining Fallen in the field.

Spark materialized in front of her, and she screamed in surprise, nearly flipping the Sparrow.

"What the fuck!?" she exclaimed.

Panting furiously, she shouted over the roar of the now readjusted Sparrow, "Why did you do that?"

Frustrated himself, Spark replied by saying, "You left me behind! What did you expect to happen?"

She grumbled something, although disregarded by Spark. He continued his thought, "I got the coordinates before we left. I've sat a nav point." She nodded, clearly back in focus to reach the Vex site.

* * *

"We're here." Spark stated as they approached the severely damaged Fallen Walker.

She dismounted, and approached the Walker cautiously. _Could it be a trap_ , she wondered? Right arm reaching out to touch the Walker, left by her side gripping the trusty sidearm she'd neglected recently.

Spark flew forward, and scanned the Walker. In response, it turned its main cannon towards the two and released a single Shank.

Worried, she asked, "One? It only has one Shank left?"

"Must've been quite a battle…" Spark answered, a hint of awe and sorrow in his robotic tone. As they conversed, the Shank approached them, while the Walker began sparking and having seemingly simultaneous structural malfunctions. Atop the Shank rested a small recording device. It nodded multiple times, prompting Quinn to pick it up and listen.

Rekis' voice, raspy and strained, came out, "If you wish… to find us… enter the temple, Guardian." He began coughing, and the recording began to break up slightly, "But be wary, as these… monsters… have many tricks." A long pause. "Good luck."

Quinn was already moving as the recording ended. She figured that in fact all of the Shanks had been released, and this one had probably been sent back with the message. The Shank followed.

She wanted to argue with the Shank, but knew it would be futile, and she simply didn't have the time. The new trio moved forward at a steady pace, enabling the Shank to remain and assist.

"What about the Walker?" questioned Spark. He slowed pace, and began to check his surroundings. She noted this, but said nothing. _If the Vex didn't intend to kill it_ , she thought _, then they must be up to something_. They continued, though moving more slowly. Quinn allowed the Shank to take point, as it claimed it knew the way. She was fine taking the rear, especially when they could be walking straight into a trap.

While walking, they began to feel tremors in the ground.

"That can't be good…" warned Spark. She knew this, as the last time this happened a cloud of Harpies spawned ahead.

Quinn and Spark stopped, although the Shank kept moving. As it flew forward, it burst into flames as a Vex sniper shot hit its right motor. The Shank began spiraling down uncontrollably, as Quinn and Spark fled to the natural cover along the path. _This must be what got Rekis' group_ , she thought. Angry that she'd fallen into such a simple ambush, she equipped her pulse rifle and began targeting the Vex.

"Damn!" she shouted, as she noticed that they were all Hobgoblins. As typical as they were to act as the Vex's snipers, they irritated all Guardians with their invulnerability, "I need a distraction!"

Spark nodded, and allowed a shock grenade to materialize in her left hand. Surprised, she asked, "Where did you get this from? Where are you getting any of this Guardian-modified Fallen tech, in general?"

Spark shouted in response, "Kill them now, ask me questions later!"

Returning back to the combat, she tossed the grenade, landing within a group of the snipers. They all went into their defense mechanism, and she stood from her cover, aiming down the sights of her pulse rifle. As soon as they came out of invulnerability, she shot off as many rounds as possible, eliminating the majority of the Hobgoblin threat. There were still more slightly behind, but they lacked an angle and she chose to deal with them when it became necessary. She was wise in this decision, as countless Vex marched out of the temple. Goblins and Harpies led by multiple Axis Minotaurs. She cried upon seeing the Axis, as they were much tougher than a typical Vex, and even more powerful when they were Minotaurs!

Seeing the approaching onslaught, she knew she couldn't possibly get them all with the pulse rifle. She turned to Spark, "Buddy, I'm going to need something big." He nodded, then disappeared. Confused, she searched around and was then surprised again when he reappeared in front of her, dropping a materialized heavy machine gun on the ground in front of her. She was shocked, "Is this Pahanin's?" Her Ghost nodded in response, as she picked up the beautifully crafted weapon, tossing the measly pulse to the side.

"Uh, Quinn," Spark said, knocking her out of her daze, "the Vex are still getting closer. Stop admiring the gun and shoot them!"

She pulled the weapon up, dubbed Super Good Advice. She fired it up, and immediately noticed its massive recoil. Pulling the fierce weapon back down with all her strength, she kept continuous fire on the approaching Vex, aware that the few Axis Minotaurs were staying in the back providing artillery. As much as she also needed to take them down, she had to take down the approaching Goblins or she'd be cut to pieces.

She kept firing on the horde, aiming for the frontmost until the belt ran out, and she ducked back behind cover to reload. Noting how little ammo she could carry in reserve, she instructed Spark, "Apply a heavy synthesis when I'm out", which warranted a simple nod in response. Something that seemed to be becoming increasingly common with her Ghost.

"Quinn, I know you like the big gun," invoking her turn to nod, "But you cut down a large chunk. Put it down, and grab the sniper. Take out those Minotaurs before they take you!" She acknowledged, dropped the SGA, and reequipped her Bow, instantly taking aim at the closest Minotaur, which seemed to be calling for reinforcements. _Can't let it do that_ , she thought excitedly. Popping multiple shots off in quick succession, the Minotaur's shields went down, and it returned its attention to her.

As she continued firing, her Ghost reminded her, "You do realize that while that specific Minotaur can't call for reinforcements, now the others know you're trying to stop that effort… and will summon more troops themselves." She was ashamed of making such a mistake, but just kept firing, knocking down the first Minotaur. Now aware of their fallen comrade, the Minotaurs began advancing with the main bulk of the Vex.

She picked the machine gun back up, and took aim, placing it on the top of her cover. As soon as a Minotaur came into range for the weapon to handle, she fired, but shot up, forgetting the massive recoil. Bringing the weapon back down, as difficult as it was, she held it sturdy and pierced through the shields and the armor of the Minotaur. The other advancing Minotaurs seemed temporarily shocked that their comrade had fallen so easily, but it soon turned to rage as the continued to march forward, firing off their torch hammers.

It was in times like these when Quinn wished she had some assistance. _Too bad the Shank didn't last long_ , she thought. Continuing to fire on the oncoming Vex with persistence, noting the weapon's large ammo count, which she favored. She got another Minotaur's shield down before the weapon clicked empty. Lacking the time needed to make a reload, she pulled the sidearm she'd been keeping in reserve out and fired. The Minotaur staggered a bit, and then kept on coming. She pulled her last grenade – a tripmine grenade – and tossed it over the rock, and watched it land straight on the Minotaur's core and almost immediately explode.

The Minotaur fell back onto the ground in pieces, as she realized she'd forgotten something – in the midst of the fight with the Axis Minotaurs, Goblins were still marching forward, and were extremely close. The remaining Minotaurs fell back to apply more artillery fire, and the Goblins started shooting. Slap rifle rounds tore through the air around her, with her struggling to dodge. Returning to the only bit of safety, she picked the machine gun back up and began to start the reload sequence, keeping the sidearm within pickup range.

"Let me know if I have company before I'm done." She hastily commanded. She heard no response, and looked up to realize Spark was missing. _Great_ , she thought, _just another thing to worry about_. She called out, "Spark!" She began to worry, but continued the incredibly slow reload process. She'd have to worry about it later.

She finished the reload just as she heard the Goblins cry out, and countless shots being exchanged. She jumped up, prepared to fire, but was met with the Goblins now surrounding something, something that was fighting back, and hard. She held the gun down and pulled the trigger, reminding the Vex of her presence. A few turned around to fight back, but were then shot from behind. _What happened to their cohesion?_ , she wondered. It seemed a path had been made clear for her to see what was eliminating them – another Guardian! As she saw this unknown Guardian, Spark flew in from above, excited.

She, however, was not, "Where have you been?"

"I thought you could use some help!" said Spark. He turned back towards the Guardian, a Warlock, in amazement.

The Warlock was a Voidwalker, and continued to beat the Vex back without even using a weapon. Quinn hadn't seen much action with Warlocks, and was partially shocked at the sheer strength the Warlock possessed. Seeing that the Warlock clearly had the Goblins covered, she ran past, knocking a few down with the butt of the machine gun, intending to take down those Minotaurs.

Three Axis Minotaurs remained at the entrance to the vine-covered temple, and they all immediately took notice of Quinn. She brought the gun up and fired, piercing the shields of all three before hitting their cores. They went down quickly, and she turned back, prepared to assist her new arrival, but was instead greeted by the Warlock kicking a final Goblin down to the ground and ending its life with the pull of the trigger of its hand cannon. Quinn lowered the heavy weapon, and walked forward to the Warlock, hand out.

"I'm Quinn." She began.

The Warlock responded, "My name is Nova-4. Your Ghost here called for assistance." The Exo gestured to Spark. Quinn now had a good look at her companion – long, tattered robes marked with the logos of Dead Orbit. Nova took off the helmet, revealing her torn, mechanical skeleton of a face. A large blast mark shot across her right eye, indicating she'd clearly seen a lot of action.

"Now," Nova began to respond, "What was it you needed help with? Seems like you had it under control, and what of the Blood?"

Quinn nodded, stating, "The Blood sent a task force which included their Baron, the one who introduced me to the house. Rekis. They came this way, and were ambushed, and I was called to assist. What has worried me here is the fact that I see very few Fallen bodies here, only a Vandal or two, but many torn up Shanks, and the Walker they brought was nearly destroyed. According to Rekis, they must have gone into the temple." She paused, then, "Which I do not wish to enter alone. Who knows what abominations the Vex may have down inside…"

Nova had sat silently, taking this all in. As Quinn finished, Nova called her Ghost, "Storm, transmit to the tower. Get me Rhys." Her Ghost nodded, and then flew off above the valley. "Now," she continued, "Why have you not returned to the Blood to request their help?"

"I've only just gotten here, and have been fighting the Vex here since." Quinn replied.

"Well," the Warlock replied, "I suggest we return to their camp." She pointed to the path, "Lead the way, Hunter."

Quinn nodded, and the pair began back to the Ketch. Spark remained for a few minutes, and waited for Storm. Seeing the Ghost, he fluttered towards it. They began introductions, as they too returned to the Ketch.

* * *

Moving the branches and leaves out of the way, the two emerged from the foliage, and looked onto the campsite.

"Glad to see it's still standing" commented Quinn.

They walked across the field, noting that many of the Vex debris was gone. _Must've cleaned up_ , Quinn thought. Approaching the camp, she observed the additional fortifications that had been made since her departure. More structure, metal walkways, even a large turret in the center. _They had all of this in the Ketch?_ , she questioned. Approaching the door that had now been put into place, Quinn knocked a few times, then stepped back as the door opened and two Dregs stood in the doorway. Clearly unhappy at the sight of an additional Guardian as opposed to their Baron, they tensed, hands on their shock daggers. She turned and pointed back, indicating Nova to step back a bit.

"You expected your Baron, did you not?" Quinn asked the Dregs. The Dregs looked at each other, then looked back, nodding. "Well," she said, "Based on what we've found, he's somewhere in the temple. We plan to find him, trust me, but I needed assistance, and there were many peculiarities about the Vex ambush that we need to investigate." One Dreg loosened his grip on his dagger, prepared to let them enter. However, the other shook his head, and moved an arm to cover the doorway, clearly unsatisfied with the answer.

Quinn sighed, and stated again, "We need to regroup, Dreg. We are going to find them and do something about these Vex, but we need to regroup." After a long pause, the Dreg shook his head, irritated, but let them through.

"Tense here, I see" commented Nova.

"Many do not respect us," responded Quinn, "and tensions are high overall, as countless Fallen have been lost in this conflict. Our interference, helpful or not, upsets many. Others, though, such as the Baron himself, have no quarrel, and only wish to fight the Vex, taking any help they can get."

Nova nodded, and they both continued to the Ketch, sitting down on a few crates. Quinn was tired, exhausted in every way, and just wished to lie down. But she knew she needed to be ready, ready for anything. Quinn perked up, and asked, "So, when is your friend supposed to be getting here?"

Just as Nova was preparing to respond, they heard a loud crash outside.

"Right about now, I suppose."

 **Author's Note: Literally all I have planned for Rhys is that he's a Titan. Anyone is welcome to PM me some ideas! I'll try to incorporate them!**


	7. Ch07 - Fireteam

Ch07

 **Author's Note: I apologize for how unbelievably long this took, and how short it is. I've been quite busy on working on music (yeah. i do that.), image edits, and content for iFunny, which, to be honest, I care about more than this. This story WILL see an end, though, and I don't plan for it to be soon. Anyways, again, I'm sorry for how long it took to produce something so minuscule.**

Rhys groaned. He'd awoken in a daze, feeling pain all over, and hearing the sounds of sparks hissing. As he came to, he realized he was still in his ship – what was left of it, anyways. Bright sunlight shot through the cracks in the hull, and he saw advancing Fallen. Unbeknownst to him, they were not his enemy. He searched around for his weapon, but couldn't find it amidst the debris. Being a Titan, he gave up the approach and tried to pull himself together.

After finding the strength to lift, he pushed past broken metal and disorientating wires and out into the sunlight. His eyes fell upon the Fallen, who had stopped advancing, and were talking to –

 _Of course_ , he thought. His Ghost had gone off and tried to make friends with the enemy! Rhys walked forward, and his Ghost turned to greet him, "Ah! Rhys! The Dregs I've been speaking to say the other two are inside waiting for us."

"Other two?" he thought, confused. Then, he remembered that he'd been summoned here by Nova. Still not entirely comfortable with the situation, "So... the Fallen _aren't_ going to try to shoot us?"

His Ghost nodded in response.

Rhys sighed, "You could've told me all of this _before_ we landed."

She replied, "Alright, A. That was a crash, not a landing, and B. I _did_ tell you, you just didn't listen. Typical."

Defeated, Rhys went on, "Okay, whatever. Let's go meet the Hunter."

* * *

They sat in silence, still mildly bored on crates, not even really phased by the crash of the ship. Quinn looked up, as she observed a Titan and his Ghost walking into the open space full of crates. Quinn lept up and greeted the Titan with a wave.

"You must be... Rhys, was it?" she asked, noting the lapse in memory.

As opposed to Rhys responding himself, his Ghost fluttered forward, "Yes, and I see you must be Quinn, the one in need of assistance."

Quinn chuckled at the enthusiasm. Gesturing to Rhys' Ghost, she asked, "What's his name?"

" _Her_ name, "Rhys corrected, "and it's Jesse."

Quinn nodded, "I'm sorry, it's just that –"

Cutting her off, Rhys answered, "I know. It's not very common."

Rhys continued in a gruff, yet delicate manner, "Anyways, pleased to meet you. I'm sure we can get to the bottom of whatever it is that's going on." Turning to Nova, "And a briefing would have been nice."

Jesse turned to him sharply, "I _did_ brief you, what are –"

He cut her off and continued, "Now then, where are these big, bad Vex?"

Quinn chuckled as she turned towards the end of the canyon, "You see how the canyon narrows? We follow that route, and we'll reach the Vex."

Spark flew out, and materialized Quinn's Sparrow out in front of her, painted in red and blue. She turned and nodded to Rhys, as Jesse flew out to do the same. Nova and Storm were already on it, as they sped past Quinn who'd been waiting. The trio moved out.

* * *

After an uneventful journey, they arrived at the temple.

"Have either of you actually scouted ahead at all?" Rhys asked.

Both shook their heads.

"The area has been too contested, and I haven't had much chance to." Responded Quinn, "So, this'll be a first."

They all dismounted and proceeded forward. A clear entrance – stone stairs leading up, only to lead down under. Now Quinn saw the death count – they hadn't been dragged away, they'd only managed to advance farther than was obvious... only to be cut down.

Countless Fallen bodies littered the massive cave – Shanks, Dregs, and Vandals. The only thing missing was the Baron. Quinn had hope of his survival, somewhere.


End file.
